A 2500 mile journey that will change the course of their lives forever.
Fifteen young sailors... six months of intense training... one chance at the brass ring. This documentary tells the story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life's first great adventure. Racing a high-performance 52-foot sloop in the TRANSPAC, the most revered of open-ocean sailing competitions, the crew of "Morning Light" matches wits and skills in a dramatic 2300 mile showdown against top professionals. From their earliest training sessions in Hawaii conducted by world-class teachers through their test of endurance on the high seas, they form an unbreakable bond in the process of becoming a singular team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Genre(s): Documentary, Sport
Runtime: 100 minutes
Rating: 4.9/10 (106 votes)
Release Date: 17 October 2008
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: Walt Disney Pictures
Sound: DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS
MPAA: Rated PG for some language. (edited for re-rating; originally Rated PG for language and some rude dialogue)
Director(s): Mark Monroe
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Producer(s):
Leslie DeMeuse - executive producer
Roy Edward Disney - executive producer
Morgan Sackett - producer
Phil Uhl - coordinating producer
Cast:
Chris Branning - Himself
Graham Brant-Zawadzki - Himself
Chris Clark - Himself
Charlie Enright - Himself
Jesse Fielding - Himself
Robbie Kane - Himself
Steve Manson - Himself
Chris Schubert - Himself
Kate Theisen - Herself
Mark Towill - Himself
Leslie DeMeuse - executive producer
Roy Edward Disney - executive producer
Morgan Sackett - producer
Phil Uhl - coordinating producer
Cast:
Chris Branning - Himself
Graham Brant-Zawadzki - Himself
Chris Clark - Himself
Charlie Enright - Himself
Jesse Fielding - Himself
Robbie Kane - Himself
Steve Manson - Himself
Chris Schubert - Himself
Kate Theisen - Herself
Mark Towill - Himself
Posted on: October 16, 2008
Posted in: Documentary, Sport
October 20th, 2008
What happens if you put fifteen young, good looking adults in the sameplace, and make them compete to join a team that will participate inone of the most elite races in sailing? As it turns out, nothing butsailing in the documentary Morning Light.
Roy Disney wanted to get young sailors in the TransPac race so hebought the Morning Light, and set off to get the best to man it.Fifteen mostly obscenely rich, mostly white, all good looking, youngsailors, Chris Branning, Grahm Brant-Zawadzki, Chris Clark, CharlieEnright, Jesse Fielding, Robbie Kane, Steve Manson Chris Schubert, KateTheisen, Mark Towill, Genny Tulloch, Pieter van Os, Chris Welsh, KitWill and Jeremy Wilmont are chosen to vie for eleven spots on theMorning Light. They go sailing, talk about sailing and look at sailboats.
A reasonable person would venture a guess that a bunch of young virilemen in a competitive situation trapped in a small space with a coupleof women might bring some sexual tension. It would be expected thatdirectly competing to participate in one of the most elite races insailing, the TransPac, would cause outbursts or the occasionaljockeying for attention or recognition. The powerful part ofcompetitive reality TV…er movies… is the strong emotional connectionbetween the people on the screen.
Watching Morning Light is like trying to swim on a slip and slide.While it is wet and you can move across it swiftly on your stomach, youcan't drown in the story because the water is only there to lube youup. Nothing that would make the audience submerge into the depths ofthe people or circumstances even grace the screen.
Morning Light has the emotional depth of a sociopath. We might as wellbe watching, "How to sail: A Step by Step Guide for the Rich andMoronic," because it offers equal levels of emotional expressiveness.They did not make me wonder or care about who would be selected to makethe team, if they won the race or how they got along. Instead of askingmyself questions of wonder during the movie, I often asked myself, "Whocares?" On the plus side, I do know far more about sailing than I everdid before, maybe enough to encourage me to buy a sail boat – if Icould afford one. Until then, I hope Disney leaves Morning Light out atsea.
June 17th, 2009
Morning Light came out in theaters at the end of 2008, only to meetsub-par reviews. The reviews seemed to have common themes critiquingthe chosen sailors ethnicities, economic backgrounds, 'good looks', andthe movie's lack of interpersonal conflicts that are to be expected ina cookie cutter reality-TV type movie. However, all of these statementsseem to be based on the given persons mindset going into the movie. Ifyou are looking for a show or movie with a range of personalbackgrounds and a fair bit of drama, The Bad Girls Club or the vastmajority of MTV shows currently airing would be a far superior choiceto Morning Light. Morning Light is the documentary of 15 sailors, allbetween the ages of 18 and 22, as they train for, and embark on theirfirst major ocean race. There has been some skepticism as to how thecrew members were cast, but each and every one of those kids werechosen solely based upon their sailing ability in order for the kids tohave the best, and safest, shot possible at completing, and doing well,in the transpac. A small bit was based upon who could act normal infront of a camera, but that was to avoid the interpersonal drama oftenassociated with such movies. This is a very fun, very real look atocean racing and although it can be enjoyed by all, people with a bitof past sailing knowledge are the ones who will really enjoy, and getthe most out of, this movie.